The 5 am club

The
5 Assets of Genius.
“As you’ve now learned, every morning you wake up with
a full battery of creative power. Each dawn you awaken to a full well of five
private treasures that, if properly managed, will cause you to overcome the
violence of your excuses and avoid the knife blade of your past limits so that
the great hero encoded within your soul meets the light of day. And enable
you to become all you’re meant to be. As a maker of spectacular work, as a
leader without a title and as a human being dedicated to living in awe of life’s
most gorgeous graces.”
“I’m all in!” exclaimed the artist.
“And as you now know, 
The 5 Assets of Genius
,” continued Mr. Riley as
he looked at the diagram, “are your mental focus, your physical energy, your
personal willpower, your original talent and your daily time. I repeat this so
you’ll remember this. These primary assets are at their highest early in the
morning. That’s why you want to start your day well and perform your most
important pursuits during your most valuable hours instead of wasting this
precious opportunity fooling around with your technology, watching the news
or oversleeping.”
“Got you,” confirmed the entrepreneur, ferociously taking notes in the
leather journal she received in Rome. A colorful scarf with elegant patterns on
it gave her ponytail a dramatic look this particular morning.

---

“And the essential point of today’s lesson is this,” the billionaire spoke as
he pointed to the center of the model. “Top performance truly isn’t a linear
game. Elite accomplishment is much more like a heartbeat, more like a
rhythm, more like a pulse. If you want to show up as a great master—over
decades so you literally dominate your domain for an entire career and lead a
life you love well into old age—you absolutely need to alternate High
Excellence Cycles, those periods of intense and fantastic output, with times of
meaningful recovery, Deep Refueling Cycles. Please study this,” the
billionaire requested, tapping an index finger on the printed framework.
“Just so I’m clear,” said the artist, as he inhaled the fresh air, “HEC is our
High Excellence Cycle and DRC is our Deep Refueling Cycle?”
“Yes,” replied the billionaire. Today his black t-shirt had white lettering
on it that read, “Yes, I’m in a relationship—with myself.” His weirdness was
magnificent.
“And so, your main move if you want enduring victory—professionally as
well as personally—is to oscillate,” the tycoon carried on. “To cycle periods
of passionate, monomaniacally focused and potent work at the highest grade
with blocks of time set for refueling, relaxing, recovering and pure fun. It
really is like your heartbeat, pulsing.”
“I so love this concept you’re so kindly teaching us,” noted the
entrepreneur. “This will be another needle-mover for my business life and for
my private world.”
“Yes, it will be,” agreed the billionaire succinctly. “Growth does happen
in the resting phase. That’s counterintuitive. Right? We’ve been programmed
to think that if we’re not creating and producing, we’re wasting our time. We
feel guilty if we’re not doing. But look at this.” The baron unzipped a nylon
carrying case that had been fastened around his waist. He pulled out two
medals that appeared to be made of gold and placed them around the necks of
the entrepreneur and the artist, as one would do in celebration of a champion.
On each medal, these words were engraved:
T
HE
L
EGENDARY
P
ERFORMANCE
E
QUATION:
P
RESSURE
× R
EFUELING
= G
ROWTH
+ E
NDURANCE
“Tennis great Billie Jean King said that pressure is a privilege,” the
billionaire reminded his two students. “See, pressure and stress aren’t bad.”
“They’re not?” questioned the entrepreneur.
“Nope. They’re actually absolutely